Mencap - Flexible Microsite Solution | Adaptive Drupal Specialists

The Background

Mencap required additional functionality within their Drupal platform to create separate, signed-in digital spaces where communities with shared interests could engage with their community and access relevant content and resources.

These microsites had to be self-sufficient but within the broader platform, allowing different departments to build and manage their own areas without relying on external support.

To achieve this, Mencap required a scalable and reusable microsite solution that would allow them to spin up new microsites easily, each with its own branding (within the overall style guidelines), content, and restricted access based on user roles.

The Requirements

Mencap needed a flexible and scalable solution that could:

Allow internal teams to create and manage microsites without developer intervention
Provide gated content and restricted access for different user groups
Offer a customisable user experience, with unique branding and navigation per microsite
Enable community engagement through dedicated content and sign-up forms
Integrate seamlessly with existing search functionality, ensuring content separation

Requirements Overview

Scalability & Self-Sufficiency

A centralised Microsite Dashboard allows non-technical users to create and manage new microsites effortlessly. Easy-to-use admin tools empower teams to independently control and update their content without requiring developer support.

Security & User Management

Custom roles and permissions ensure that access to restricted content is carefully managed. Gated content areas are available exclusively to signed-in users, providing a tailored experience for each audience. Each microsite also features dedicated registration and sign-up forms, allowing users to join and engage seamlessly.

Branding & User Experience

Each microsite is fully customisable, supporting unique branding elements such as logos, menus, footers, and dedicated URLs. Microsite administrators also have access to personalised dashboards, making it easy to manage content and maintain consistency across their sites.

Search & Content Accessibility

Solr-powered search filtering ensures that microsite content appears only in relevant search results, providing a more accurate and user-friendly experience. Each microsite also has its own dedicated search index, improving content discovery and keeping results focused within the appropriate site.

The Approach

Discovery

We worked closely with Mencap's stakeholders to understand their requirements and mapped out the user journeys for different departments including the ability for microsite Administrators where they can only administrator the specified microsite.

Development & Prototyping

A flexible Microsite Dashboard was built, allowing admins to generate new sites with minimal input. Custom search configurations were implemented using Solr to keep microsite content separate from the main platform. A structured role and permission system was also developed to ensure secure access control.

The site makes use of Adaptive's Microsite Module which adds some additional functionality to Drupal's core multsite functionality such as an Admin Dashboard, Template Overrides, Form Handling and User Permissions (including Gated content control).

Deployment & Training

The solution was launched with a focus on usability, ensuring Mencap teams could self-manage their microsites. Training sessions and documentation were provided to support adoption, reducing ongoing support requirements.

The Future

Mencap plans to further extend the platform by integrating third-party applications, such as event and course management tools, which will automatically feed relevant details into individual microsites. This will enhance user engagement by providing real-time updates on upcoming events, training sessions, and community activities.

By leveraging this structured approach, Mencap now has a future-proofed digital framework that supports ongoing expansion and engagement, while remaining easy to manage internally.

Learn more about our ongoing relationship with Mencap here.

What The Client Says

It’s a real comfort to know that there is such a highly skilled and knowledgeable team at our fingertips. I have worked with Adaptive for a number of years now and have built up a great relationship with the team who are always friendly, professional and happy to help.

Christine Mulvenna

Network Communications and Events Manager